Still Brothers
by xSeshatx
Summary: {Oneshot} Rollins is hurt but he can't stop thinking about how he got where he was and the fact that he still has brothers beside him


**Hey so I don't know what this is exactly. I just started writing a little bit the night of Wrestlemania and continued after Monday Night Raw. This is my first, and probably last, WWE fanfiction. I wrote it all on my phone, which I never do because it takes too long to get all my thoughts out, but let's see how it turns out.**

He didn't know how he managed it, but he got the victory. He didn't doubt his own skills; he knew he was a great wrestler. The issue was his goddamn knee. If he was 100% he would have felt immensely more confident in his ability to pull out a victory over the cerebral assassin Triple H. But he wasn't 100% and he wasn't confident. He made it through the match solely because of will power and high strung emotions. That also could have been a bad thing for him, the emotions. He knew he had a tendency to let his emotions get the best of him. If he wasn't careful, his emotions would take over his life completely.

He was hurt, mostly, by Triple H. He was hurt and angry. He felt betrayed. He felt embarrassed. He gave up everything in order to achieve anything he wanted, but instead he was stabbed in the back. Why? Because he got injured during a match? Did that make him weak? As a professional wrestler, injuries were common. A day didn't go by where there wasn't an ache deep in his bones. That was just the life of a wrestler. Triple H had to understand that. What H didn't get, though, was just how much was given up by Seth freaking Rollins. He gave up his friendships, his alliances, his brothers. He gave up everything he had worked to create. He regretted it deeply ever since he betrayed his brothers, but he thought it was for the best. Sometimes you gotta do stuff for yourself. Instead, H proved to him that turning away from The Shield was the biggest mistake he could have ever made, and that only made him regret it more.

Reigns and Ambrose had been understanding enough. It took a long time to get them to agree to sitting down with him to talk, but Rollins convinced Reigns and Reigns convinced Ambrose. He bought his two ex-Shield mates lunch, and they sat in a hotel room talking for hours. Seth came clean to a lot of things; feeling inadequate and needing to prove himself, being blinded by the desire to make a name for himself, and jealousy of his teammates, all of which ultimately led to his decision to join Triple H. Surprisingly, Dean was the most understanding, saying how Seth never should have felt like that because they were a team, all on an equal level. He said how he meant it when he called Rollins and Reigns his brothers, and brothers fight. Brothers can go astray. But they always deserved a second chance, and Rollins was no exception.

It had been tough at first, getting back on the same page. They didn't work in the ring together as often as they did before, especially Ambrose since he was on Smackdown while the other two were on Raw, but they tried to manage. They'd often take some time to wrestle together in the ring to train rather than what they were doing during their feud which was to attempt to cause harm. They worked to understand each other again in the ring. Their fighting styles varied a bit during their time away from each other, and they needed to work as teammates again rather than enemies. It was hard. Ambrose, with his temper, could barely control himself not to hurt Rollins when an accident happened in the ring, but he managed and soon they were as good as new, both in ring and out.

They were all on the same page again, but that didn't mean they were going to reconnect as The Shield. Each had their own solo feuds going on and left each other alone while at work. Rollins and Ambrose would watch angrily as Roman was attacked by Braun Strowman, Reigns and Rollins could barely contain themselves when Baron Corbin attempted to crush Dean with a lift, and Ambrose and Reigns hated how Triple H tortured Seth which led to Samoa Joe injuring him, leaving him with yet another injured knee. Which led to the Wrestlemania match against Triple H, and the pain only grew worse.

His first thought when he heard the bell ring and the announcers declare him winner wasn't to celebrate, wasn't to think about Triple H, and wasn't even to realize that he just had his Wrestlemania moment that he nearly missed out on. His first thought was the pain in his knee. He wrapped both of his arms around it, grateful the match was finally over because he was close to letting Hunter take the win. He wouldn't have to, thank god, because he pulled the win and it was done. He won.

Standing after the match was a challenge. It was more than a challenge, actually. He was damn near impossible. The pain was unbearable and he couldn't do anything besides lay on his side and hold his knee as he tried not to shout in pain. He could barely think but he managed to feel a tad bit sorry for Stephanie. He hated her as much as he hated Triple H and he was more than a little irritated she interfered in the match, but he didn't want her pushed into a table.

The doctors and referees helped him back to the locker room because there was no way he would manage it by himself. He put as little pressure on his knee as possible but even that was too much. It was the worst pain he had ever felt in his life, and there was no doubt about it. Honestly, he felt as if he was going to pass out from the pain. He had never felt anything so horrible. He barely had a thought outside of pain, but the one thing he thought about besides a brief thought towards Stephanie were his brothers. He needed his brothers because he was in pain and, for this moment, he'd allow himself to be weak with them. He never did before because he already felt like the weak link of The Shield, but he was learning to change that and this was the perfect time.

He was in the locker room for only a couple of minutes before Roman and Dean came in, both looking bored to the untrained eye because those two had some serious angry faces that made it seem like they never felt joy. When Seth saw them come in, he could have cried in relief. "I don't know how you managed it," Roman said, "because you should not even be able to put any pressure on that knee."

"Congrats, brother," Dean said, clapping Seth on his shoulder for a brief moment before looking down at the ice pack on his knee. "They really think that is gonna help ya? What a bunch of idiots. You're in pain, the hell is an ice pack gonna do?"

Seth wanted to laugh at Dean and he would have if it didn't hurt so bad. "It's doing shit," he grit out after taking a few moments to breathe. "It's never hurt this bad." He wanted to regret the match but he couldn't find it in himself to. He hated the pain and he regretted letting Samoa Joe injur him, but the win felt worth it. It felt like he had finally earned his spot back with his brothers, and he painfully admitted this to them.

"We've been brothers," Dean said, giving Seth his 'shut up' look. "We were brothers even when we didn't think we were brothers. You never had to earn your spot back."

"Dean's right," Roman continued. "We're always gonna be brothers. You didn't need to put yourself through this just to prove something. Everybody already knows you're tough." Seth didn't argue because another jolt of sharp pain had him cry out. His arms tightened around his knee even though he knew it was pointless. It wouldn't help his pain. "Okay, enough's enough. You need to go to the hospital."

Painfully, he agreed, because he knew he needed to go. He saw the contemplative look made by Roman and shook his head. "You have a match with 'Taker. You stay."

"Yeah, Roman, you stay. I'm done tonight so I'll go with 'im," Dean said, pointing his thumb towards Rollins as he walked out the room, mumbling about how he had to go find a "goddamn doctor. You'd think they'd pretend to care at least. Shoutin' in pain but they ain't here."

Seth took a minute to think about everything he nearly lost. Well, what he had lost but had been able to somehow get back. If he was still with Triple H, he'd probably be alone in the back while in pain. He never should have turned his back on the people who would literally take a bullet for him. He cared so much for his brothers and they cared so much for him, too. Dean was probably feeling at least some pain from his match with Corbin, and Roman was honest-to-god considering going with Seth to the hospital when he had possibly the biggest match of his career ahead of him within an hour or two. He did not deserve the family he had.

"You'll get through this," Roman was saying, distracting Seth from his thoughts. "Except this time maybe you should listen to the trainers instead of pushing yourself too far."

"You would've done the same thing if you were in my position," Rollins argued, because it was true. They all would have if the match meant a lot to them, especially if it was at Wrestlemania. This could have easily been him sitting bedside for Reigns or Ambrose because of their stubbornness. Even if this match was the last match of his career, which was more likely than be feared, it was one hell of a way to go out. Taking out his rival, Triple H, on the biggest night of the year? At least his last match would go down in wrestling history.

Rollins ended up unconscious as he laid there waiting for medical personal. Apparently, they were tending to the remains of the Raw tag team match up. They all had seen the match; it had been brutal. The next time he woke up he was laying in an ambulance with Ambrose sitting right beside him. "They say you passed out from pain," Dean said when he saw Rollins' eyes open. "That or the concussion you managed to get. It's only been a few minutes."

"Few minutes too long," Seth mumbled, and it was. He felt like he was gonna pass out but he hoped it wasn't gonna happen because, really, who wants that to happen? "Saw your match with Corbin. Nice one, bro. Was worried there for a bit."

The snort from Dean was expected. "Worried 'bout what? Had no doubt 'bout winning."

"Wasn't worried about you losing," Seth corrected. "Baron hates you. I was worried he would try to crush you again or somethin'."

"Always the worry wart," Dean said with a chuckle.

Things went as expected at the hospital, really. Seth was given pain medicine to take away the edge and then X-Rays were taken, followed by a whole collection of tests to see what exactly the issue was. There was inflammation, as expected, but the amount was alarming for the doctors, and then they told him that surgery was recommended. Dean sat with him, listening to the doctor, while Seth contemplated jumping off the hospital roof - not literally, of course. He wasn't stupid. He just hated that he would be off the shelf. For how long this time? Eight months? Nine? Maybe a whole year? It wasn't looking good, and Seth just wanted to be discharged so he can sleep for a night before making plans for surgery.

He signed himself out against the doctor's medical opinion because he was a grown ass man who can make his own decisions. "Have you heard from Roman?" Seth asked Dean as he used his crutches to walk - sorta - out of the hospital. "Did he win? 'Taker was gonna be a hard win, but if anyone could do it's, it's him."

"He won, man, what else did you think was gonna happen?" Dean replied, grinning happily at Seth, who was willing to bet they were both thinking the same thing: the three ex-Shield mates all picked up the win at Wrestlemania. Wrestle-freaking-mania.

"We need to celebrate," Seth declared. "It feels like a Shield victory, don't it?"

"Yeah," Dean answered, a nostalgic smile on his face. "I miss The Shield sometimes. It felt like we were apart of somethin' bigger than us, you know?"

Seth agreed, because being in a team like The Shield taught them all how to work together yet have enough independence not to be co-dependent. It felt like they were fighting for all the superstars who were underappreciated, for something that would outlast them forever. "We should call a taxi," Seth said suddenly, having completely forgotten they had made it to the hospital in an ambulance.

"What for? Roman's waiting for us," Dean said, and those words were beautiful. Roman was there, and he was always the smartest one. He probably grabbed all of their bags and loaded them in the car already. Knowing him, he probably also stopped by somewhere to order them all food and drinks because after a day of wrestling they were all usually starving. He probably would have his phone plugged into the aux, playing the playlist of all their favorite songs. That's who Roman was, always thinking ahead.

Everything Seth predicted turned out to be true, Seth discovered, when Roman pulled up out front. Dean got shotgun while Seth sat in the back with his leg propped up and the crutches on the floor in front of him. "Surgery?" Roman guessed, to which Seth and Dean both nodded. "That blows. You'll be welcomed back by everybody when you come back."

"What if I don't come back?" Seth asked, not really wanting to hear an answer to the question he didn't really want to ask. "What if this ends my career?"

"Then you'll find some way else to be involved, like Daniel Bryan or Corey Graves," Dean answered like it was obvious and not a big deal. "But knee injuries don't usually put us on the shelf for good. Over thinking this will only hurt yourself, so take things as they come."

"I'm not trying to over think," Seth mumbled, defending himself. "I'm just trying to think of every outcome. I don't want to feel hopeless if it comes to that and I have no backup plan." Dean and Roman had no response to that. The sad reality was that any injury could be the last injury which would force an early retirement. It has happened to too many great wrestlers, Edge and Daniel Bryan are just two examples of that. It was unfortunate and, in most cases, unavoidable. Not this case. "Actually," Seth said suddenly, "I'm not gonna let this stop me. Surgery was recommended. It isn't needed."

"Don't even think about it," Roman said, immediately grasping what Rollins was considering. "Wrestling tonight on an injury was stupid. Don't make it worse."

"But the docs at work said they'd decide to clear me depending on the match," he argued. "Maybe they will clear me, and I'll put off doing the surgery for the time being."

"Listen, man, I know taking another break is hard for you, but you can't just keep ignoring the docs' orders. They know better than you. If they say you shouldn't, that means you'll only be risking more by doing it anyways," Dean tried to reason.

Stubbornly, Rollins shook his head. His brothers didn't understand. He wasn't risking being left behind. People would grow bored of him eventually if he's always out on injury, and if he lost Reigns and Ambrose because of it...well, sitting out just wasn't an option. "WWE might clear me. If they do, the surgery can wait." That was the end of that conversation.

As it turned out, the WWE did clear Rollins for in-ring competition, only if it was a tag team match. A singles match would be too much on his knee, not allowing him to take a break in order to rest his knee. A tag team match allowed more time for him, not that he was actually going to take advantage of his tag team partner that way. He was there to fight, not rest.

The next day, Rollins had been informed that his partner would be Chris Jericho. Jericho was annoying and hard to work with sometimes, but he was one hell of an in-ring performer as well as a professional on the microphone. Seth, admittedly and unfortunately, respected Chris Jericho. He was a good tag team partner. Things were going smoothly for Rollins as he tried to warm up his leg before he heard news that Samoa Joe and Kevin Owens had attacked Jericho backstage like cowards.

Immediately, Rollins went to check on Jericho and to see if he still had a partner. When Kurt Angle told him that Jericho wasn't cleared to compete, he was crushed, but he was promised another partner. While he wished he would have been made aware of who it was, he was grateful for a partner and the opportunity to wrestle all the same. No matter who his partner was, he'd be in a ring and not kept in the back like a caged animal - literally. Roman would have him under lock and key if it came down to that.

He didn't know who he was expecting, but when he heard the familiar sound of Finn Bálor's theme song, a flood of mixed emotions were released. Seth was the reason Finn Bálor was out on injury. The little feud they had was professional only since he had no reason not to like Bálor. He respected him a hell of a lot more than he respected many other superstars on any roster. What Seth was unsure of, though, was whether or not Finn would harbor any bad feelings towards him because of their small history on the main roster.

The match was brutal for Rollins. He was performing at less than 60% and the pain he had to endure was nearly as bad as the night before at Wrestlemania. He probably did more to his knee than Owens or Joe combined, considering the amount of suicide bombs and high knees he was giving out. Finn picked the win up for the both of them. The skill Bálor shown throughout the match was incredible, but he kept giving Seth unsure looks, as if he was trying to size him up and determine if Rollins was going to attack him after. Instead, Seth made the move to grab Finn's hand and hold it in the air - clearing all the bad history between them. It was another step back in the direction of who he used to be rather than who Triple H changed him to be. It was just another reason not to take an injury leave.

He found Roman waiting backstage and, surprisingly, Dean. The superstars on the different rosters didn't usually attend other events, but Seth knew Dean was there probably because of his knee injury. "You're gonna ruin your knee," was all Ambrose said on the topic, letting it go after that.

"What are you going to do now that Bálor is back?" Roman asked, grabbing Rollins' arm and throwing it across is own shoulder without waiting for Seth to do it himself. Whatever weight he could keep off his knee, the better. So Seth allowed Roman to help him walk to the locker room while Dean held doors open.

"Why do I need to do anything?" Rollins countered with. "I don't have an issue with Bálor. I don't think he has an issue with me. Nothing to be done."

Dean gave him a long, confused stare as if Rollins was dumb. "You injured him. Kept him away for months. Ain't you worried he's gonna remember that?"

Seth shrugged in response. "He doesn't seem the type to take accidents personally. It wasn't like I was aiming to hurt him. Accidents happen, and I think he gets that."

The subject dropped as did Seth when he put way too much pressure on his knee. Roman, bless, caught him before he went down and supported his weight almost fully as Seth had his little spasm of pain. The moment passed after a few minutes and Dean resorted to being on the other side of Rollins to support even more of his weight. "Maybe you can get out of house shows," Roman suggested. "Stay on Monday, but use the other days for physical therapy."

"Good luck getting the green light for that," Ambrose muttered, not hiding his distaste for the management. At least he had Shane and Daniel Bryan on Smackdown. "Kurt Angle new GM, huh? Maybe he'll be on board."

This is what he gave up, and it definitely wasn't worth it. He didn't deserve to be welcomed back by his brothers but he was. He didn't deserve the way they opened their arms to him and allowed him go get close. He betrayed them before but they didn't act like he'd ever do it again. His friendship was not something that should ever be taken for granted. Dean should of be enjoying a day off, Roman should of been celebrating his victory over Undertaker, and Seth should of been suffering in pain quiet and alone. That's the way things should have worked out, but that's not how they did. Dean was wasting a night just to be there to support Seth and Roman was acting as if he didn't just have the biggest win of his career.

It took a long time for him to say it, but Seth finally did. "Thank you guys. For giving me another chance. I know I didn't deserve it, but you took me back in anyways. Thank you."

"Didn't think we'd forget about you that easy, did you?" Dean grinned, followed by a pat on the back from Reigns. Because they were brothers and there was nothing else that needed to be said.


End file.
